KMIZ tower project may cause signal issues

Work has been underway to replace the nearly 50-year-old Moniteau County broadcast tower, which broadcasts KMIZ channels including ABC 17 and Fox 22, with a new tower since earlier this summer.
by Emily Cole
Aug. 31 2019 @ 12:05am

Work has been underway to replace the nearly 50-year-old Moniteau County broadcast tower, which broadcasts KMIZ channels including ABC 17 and Fox 22, with a new tower since earlier this summer.

While a new tower is being built, the station has been using a temporary site near Prairie Home, with a tower about 250 feet lower than the previous one, ABC 17 chief engineer Eric Jones said.

All of the station's signals were lost temporarily during the late hours of July 31 to transition from the old tower to the temporary one. While the project is being completed, all channel 22 streams will be off the air, but channel 17 streams returned Aug. 1.

However, some viewers may still be having issues with their signal.

The lower tower means they are required by the Federal Communications Commission to transmit at a lower power, according to ABC 17's website.

Jones said the lower power means people living on the fringes of their coverage area may have trouble with their signal, as might people living in lower-lying areas.